Project widening highway between Hardeeville, Savannah starts Monday. What to expect
A $41.9 million project widening the highway between South Carolina and Savannah to four lanes from two is set to begin Monday, a S.C. Department of Transportation release said.
The upgrades are to accommodate the traffic that has increased with the region’s residential and economic growth.
The construction — which will also add a grass median dividing the lanes, wider shoulders and rumble strips along a 4.2-mile stretch of U.S. 17 between the Georgia border and Hardeeville — is expected to finish in late 2025.
The project accomplishes several goals, including updating road infrastructure and improving safety of travelers, J. Barnwell Fishburne, chairman of the SCDOT Commission representing the 6th Congressional District, said in the release.
“It also supports the region’s growth and economic development efforts now and for the future,” he said.
Other portions of the project include “significant” ground improvements, such as new roadway embankments and compacting soil to support the new highway, and a new traffic signal and bike lanes being installed at S.C. 315 in Hardeeville.
SCDOT is paying for the project, which will be done by R.B. Baker Construction, through the Lowcountry Area Transportation Study and the Lowcountry Council of Governments. It has been rated a “top road infrastructure priority of the region.”
A second bridge over the Back River near the Savannah River is being designed by the Georgia Department of Transportation as a second phase of the project.
This story was originally published February 21, 2021 at 1:00 PM.
